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Brendon Ayanbadejo: Baseball might have first openly gay player

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo says he plans to be at a rally in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning as it prepares to hear a challenge to California's Prop 8, which bans gay marriage

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo says he plans to be at a rally in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning as it prepares to hear a challenge to California's Prop 8, which bans gay marriage. Ayanbadejo, a California native, is among a group of NFL players who filed a brief in the case supporting same-sex marriage. He talked to USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

Question: You've been quoted as saying you believe the NFL will have its first openly gay player within a year, but that's a mistake?

Answer: I was misquoted. Everyone says that I said a specific date, but I never mentioned a date. I just said that it will happen soon, and we're definitely ready for it.

Q: How about the chances of it happening in baseball?

A: Honestly, I think it will happen in baseball sooner than in football or basketball. The reason I say that is because I think there is less of a connection to religion in baseball. The religious roots are a lot deeper in basketball and football. With that being said, I think baseball players are more open minded.

Q: Why do you say that?

A: The baseball players I have known from growing up — I've known guys like Pat Burrell — just my interaction with the baseball players and them being on the road and stuff, their lives are a lot different. Whereas, the football guys, we have chapel every Sunday, no matter where we are — there are a lot of religious things going on, whether it's chapel or Mass or whatever religious group you're a part of, we have something for you.

We do prayers before and after every game. I don't know if baseball is like that, but I don't think that it is. I played baseball for 12 years growing up as a kid. So I don't know. I could be wrong. But I just felt that they were a bit more open-minded and not so tied to religion as much as football and basketball.

Q: You didn't put a date on it, but you do believe football is ready for it?

A: Yeah, I think so. The locker room is changing, and you're starting to see teams take a stand against discrimination, whether it's the Niners (San Francisco 49ers) or the Baltimore Ravens. Also, we have a meeting next week — Athlete Ally (an organization that promotes equality in sports) and myself have a meeting next week, or some time in early April — with the NFL about joining Athlete Ally and inclusiveness in sports.

You're seeing people that have roles inside the NFL — and they're not necessarily players — but their roles from the top, coming down accepting equality and inclusiveness. So I think we're laying the foundation for a player to be comfortable and safe. We're not exactly there in every organization, but I think we're getting there. When all the organizations in the NFL take a stand as a whole and the orders come from the top down and we do some training with the rookies and we talk about Athlete Ally and inclusiveness in sports, we are really going to see a momentous change in acceptance.

Q: How does the notion of the NFL being ready for an openly gay player square with organizations that ask potential draftees if they 'like girls?'

A: Yeah, that was pretty outrageous and outlandish that they did that. Obviously, that's something you could never do in corporate America. But also at the same time, in the majority of states, you can still be fired for being LGBT. I think more than anything, when these types of things happen — when corporations "misbehave" — it leads to faster change. Look at all the pushback the NFL got and how big the news was when it happened. Now they had to send memos to teams that you can't do this and there's certain behaviors you can't act in.

If that had never happened, or it had not been made public, teams would still be practicing and doing those same things they did that were discriminatory. So when they do make mistakes and it goes public, it can be a catalyst for change. and that's actually a good thing.

Q: But in September, you said you still hear homophobic slurs in locker rooms ...

A: I think that is still the gorilla in the room. I think that's the hardest thing. Even though mentalities are changing, how is your language changing? How are your actions changing? Because when you're still using those homophobic slurs, even if you don't mean them like (49ers' Chris) Culliver, he was using those words and it really hurt people.

Not just change in what you do but you have to change in the things you say. You just can't say those things anymore. That's what really becoming an ally is. Not just in your mind where you accept LGBT people but also in your language and the things you say.